Ex-Rocket Parsons has the same skills,but he'll show themoff for former rival

Dallas Mavericks Chandler Parsons (25) and Tyson Chandler (6) playfully show their numbers to avoid confusing them based on name during NBA basketball media day in Dallas, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Photo: LM Otero, STF

DALLAS - Chandler Parsons' first game with his new team just happens to be his first meeting against his former team, so he did not try to pretend Tuesday's preseason opener would be "just another game."

The meeting between the Mavericks and Rockets won't be like a regular-season game or the first meeting in Houston next month, but it will bring strange feelings for the fourth-year forward.

"It's going to be a weird feeling," Parsons, 25, said. "It's definitely going to be awkward.

"Even though it's a preseason game and Dirk (Nowitzki is) not playing and the rotation is not going to be regular-season game-like, it will still be exciting. It will still be competitive. It's not like it will be Nov. 22 in Houston, but it's good to get it out of the way. It will be fun."

Parsons joined the Mavericks when the Rockets opted against matching his three-year, $45 million offer sheet in July, a stunning decision after three seasons in which Parsons had become captain and most-tenured.

The move took him from one of the NBA's youngest teams (and the least experienced in last season's playoffs) to a Mavericks roster reinforced throughout by veterans, and it gives him a different perspective on the Interstate 45 rivalry. Parsons had no criticisms of his former team and did not comment on Dwight Howard's recent statement that the Rockets let too much slide last season, but he was clear he is happy in Dallas.

Well-seasoned team

"I don't want to compare the two teams, just because it's very different," Parsons said. "All I can say is here now, the team is so experienced. Guys like Richard Jefferson and Jameer Nelson and Devin Harris and Dirk Nowitzki and Monta (Ellis) and Tyson (Chandler). All these guys have been in the league so long. They've seen it all. They've done it all. Tyson and Dirk, they've won a championship. It just feels that they know what it takes. Everyone is so nice. Everyone gets along so well. Everybody has been competing very hard.

"What impressed me is once I got cut from USA (Basketball), I got a chance to come here and work out, and I was pretty much the last one to get to Dallas, and this was like a month before training camp even started. Guys were staying here on the weekends. It's crazy how dedicated everyone has been this summer, how hard they've been working. We're such a deep team. Raymond Felton, Charlie Villanueva - all these guys are seasoned guys that are ready to win."

Parsons never had a teammate for more than two seasons with the Rockets, but he said it will be strange to compete against the only NBA coaches he had before moving to Dallas.

A little uneasy

"It will be a little uncomfortable at first, especially with coach (Kevin) McHale," Parsons said. "Players came and went in my career in Houston. (J.B.) Bickerstaff, McHale, Buck (Greg Buckner) and (Chris) Finch - those are my guys. It's weird that they are planning the scouting report to stop me, to take away what I do. It's just different and weird but definitely exciting."

Asked if there is a former teammate he hopes to match up against, Parsons laughed and said only that he hopes to play against the best player on every opposing team.

"I'm going to really lock in defensively this year," Parsons said. "We have so many guys who can really score the ball with Dirk, Monta, Jameer, myself. I have to be more dialed in on defense. That's one thing we've been emphasizing. That's how you win big."

Taking on Harden

But with that in mind, there is a good chance Parsons matches up with guard James Harden. Either way, Parsons' move north added fuel to the Houston-Dallas rivalry, most recently inspiring comments between Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. Parsons did not weigh in on their debate, although knowing both so well, he did laugh at their public sparring.

"Obviously, they (the comments) were comical," Parsons said. "It's always been a fun rivalry between us and Houston even before I signed with Dallas. I'm pretty sure it will get even more exciting and more aggressive. Daryl is entitled to his opinion. Mark is going to strongly provide his opinion. That's part of the nature of competitors."

But Parsons has taken sides in one competition between Dallas and Houston far removed from American Airlines Center or Toyota Center. After the Cowboys' 20-17 overtime victory over the Texans on Sunday, Parsons tweeted: "How bout them Dallas Cowboys."

A Cowboys fan

"I've got to rep the city I'm living in," Parsons said. "I was cool with a lot of those guys on the Texans. I was never a Texans fan before I came to Houston. Now I'm a Dallas fan because I live in Dallas. It's just fun to cheer for your city. I've never really been a big football fan. I kind of picked up on the Texans. I'll still pull for those guys because I know J.J. (Watt,) Andre (Johnson) and Arian (Foster). But it's fun to represent."

He expects Tuesday's meeting to be fun, too, if more than a little "weird."

"All the guys on the team are veteran, good guys, great locker room guys, high character," Parsons said of the Mavericks. "You can just tell with the experience we have on the team, no one is going to try to do their own thing. There's no hidden agendas. Everyone is on the same page. Everyone is really together. We're all here to win. Everyone can step up their role and do what it takes. It's been great so far. I like it a lot."

Jonathan Feigen has been the Rockets beat writer since 1998 and a basketball nut since before Willis Reed limped out for Game 7. He became a sports writer because the reporter that was supposed to cover the University of Delaware basketball team decided to instead play one more season of college lacrosse and has never looked back.

Feigen, who has won APSE, APME and United States Basketball Writers Association awards from El Campo to Houston, came to Texas in 1981 to cover the Rice Birds, was Sports Editor in Garland before moving to Dallas to cover everything from the final hurrah of the Southwest Conference to SMU after the death penalty.

After joining the Houston Chronicle in 1990, Feigen has covered the demise of the SWC, the rise of the Big 12 and the Rockets at their championship best.